Deep foundation

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File:Deep foundation drilling.ogv
Drilling of deep piles of diameter 150cm in bridge 423 near Nes Ziona, Israel

A deep foundation installation for a bridge in Napa, California, United States.

Pile driving operations in the Port of Tampa, Florida, United States.

A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the
earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface
layer or a range of depths.

A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or

drilled deep into the ground at the building site.

Deep foundations of The Marina Torch, a skyscraper in Dubai

There are many reasons that a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep
foundation over a shallow foundation, such as for a skyscraper. Some of the common
reasons are very large design loads, a poor soil at shallow depth, or site
constraints like property lines. There are different terms used to describe
different types of deep foundations including the pile (which is analogous to a
pole), the pier (which is analogous to a column), drilled shafts, and caissons.
Piles are generally driven into the ground in situ; other deep foundations are
typically put in place using excavation and drilling. The naming conventions may
vary between engineering disciplines and firms. Deep foundations can be made out of
timber, steel, reinforced concrete or prestressed concrete.

Contents
1 Driven foundations
1.1 Pile foundation systems
1.2 Monopile foundation
2 Drilled piles
2.1 Under-reamed piles
2.2 Augercast pile
2.3 Pier and grade beam foundation
3 Specialty piles
3.1 Micropiles
3.2 Tripod piles
3.3 Sheet piles
3.4 Soldier piles
3.5 Screw piles
3.6 Suction Piles
3.7 Adfreeze Piles
3.8 Vibrated stone columns
3.9 Hospital Piles or Gallow Piles
4 Piled walls
4.1 Secant piled walls
4.2 Slurry walls
5 Deep mixing/mass stabilization techniques
6 Classification of pile with respect to type of material
6.1 Timber
6.2 Iron
6.3 Steel
6.4 Prestressed concrete piles
6.5 Composite piles
7 Aquatic pilings/Marine pilings
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links
Driven foundations

Pipe piles being driven into the ground

Illustration of a hand-operated pile driver in Germany after 1480

Prefabricated piles are driven into the ground using a pile driver. Driven piles
are constructed of wood, reinforced concrete, or steel. Wooden piles are made from
the trunks of tall trees. Concrete piles are available in square, octagonal, and
round cross-sections (like Franki piles). They are reinforced with rebar and are
often prestressed. Steel piles are either pipe piles or some sort of beam section
(like an H-pile). Historically, wood piles used splices to join multiple segments
end-to-end when the driven depth required was too long for a single pile; today,
splicing is common with steel piles, though concrete piles can be spliced with
mechanical and other means. Driving piles, as opposed to drilling shafts, is
advantageous because the soil displaced by driving the piles compresses the
surrounding soil, causing greater friction against the sides of the piles, thus
increasing their load-bearing capacity. Driven piles are also considered to be
"tested" for weight-bearing ability because of their method of installation; thus
the motto of the Pile Driving Contractors' Association is "A Driven Pile...Is a
Tested Pile!".[1]

Pile foundation systems

Foundations relying on driven piles often have groups of piles connected by a pile
cap (a large concrete block into which the heads of the piles are embedded) to
distribute loads which are larger than one pile can bear. Pile caps and isolated
piles are typically connected with grade beams to tie the foundation elements
together; lighter structural elements bear on the grade beams, while heavier
elements bear directly on the pile cap.[2]

Monopile foundation
A monopile foundation utilizes a single, generally large-diameter, foundation
structural element to support all the loads (weight, wind, etc.) of a large above-
surface structure.

A large number of monopile foundations[3] have been utilized in recent years for
economically constructing fixed-bottom offshore wind farms in shallow-water subsea
locations.[4] For example, the Horns Rev wind farm from 2002 in the North Sea west
of Denmark utilizes 80 large monopiles of 4 metres diameter sunk 25 meters deep
into the seabed,[5] while the Lynn and Inner Dowsing Wind Farm off the coast of
England went online in 2008 with over 100 turbines, each mounted on a 4.7-metre-
diameter monopile foundation in ocean depths up to 18 metres of water.[6]

The typical construction process for a wind turbine subsea monopile foundation in
sand includes driving a large hollow steel pile, of some 4 m in diameter with
approximately 50mm thick walls, some 25 m deep into the seabed, through a 0.5 m
layer of larger stone and gravel to minimize erosion around the pile. A "transition
piece (complete with pre-installed features such as boat-landing arrangement,
cathodic protection, cable ducts for sub-marine cables, turbine tower flange,
etc.)" is attached to the now deeply driven pile, the sand and water are removed
from the centre of the pile and replaced with concrete. An additional layer of even
larger stone, up to 0.5 m diameter, is applied to the surface of the seabed for
longer-term erosion protection.[4]

Drilled piles

A pile machine in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Also called caissons, drilled shafts, drilled piers, Cast-in-drilled-hole piles
(CIDH piles) or Cast-in-Situ piles, a borehole is drilled into the ground, then
concrete (and often some sort of reinforcing) is placed into the borehole to form
the pile. Rotary boring techniques allow larger diameter piles than any other
piling method and permit pile construction through particularly dense or hard
strata. Construction methods depend on the geology of the site; in particular,
whether boring is to be undertaken in 'dry' ground conditions or through water-
saturated strata. Casing is often used when the sides of the borehole are likely to
slough off before concrete is poured.

For end-bearing piles, drilling continues until the borehole has extended a
sufficient depth (socketing) into a sufficiently strong layer. Depending on site
geology, this can be a rock layer, or hardpan, or other dense, strong layers. Both
the diameter of the pile and the depth of the pile are highly specific to the
ground conditions, loading conditions, and nature of the project. Pile depths may
vary substantially across a project if the bearing layer is not level.

Drilled piles can be tested using a variety of methods to verify the pile integrity
during installation.

Under-reamed piles
Under-reamed piles have mechanically formed enlarged bases that are as much as 6 m
in diameter.[citation needed] The form is that of an inverted cone and can only be
formed in stable soils. The larger base diameter allows greater bearing capacity
than a straight-shaft pile.

These pile are suited for expansive soils which are often subjected to seasonal
moisture variations, as also filled up ground and loose or soft strata. They are
used in normal ground condition also where economics are favorable. [7][full
citation needed]

Augercast pile
An augercast pile, often known as a continuous flight augering (CFA) pile, is
formed by drilling into the ground with a hollow stemmed continuous flight auger to
the required depth or degree of resistance. No casing is required. A cement grout
mix is then pumped down the stem of the auger. While the cement grout is pumped,
the auger is slowly withdrawn, conveying the soil upward along the flights. A shaft
of fluid cement grout is formed to ground level. Reinforcement can be installed.
Recent innovations in addition to stringent quality control allows reinforcing
cages to be placed up to the full length of a pile when required. A typical
reinforcing cage will consist of 4 to 8 bars from #5 to #8 bars typically 1/3 the
length of the pile with longitudinal circular ties spaced along the length of the
cage. Where tension loads are present it is typical to see a single full length bar
placed at the center of each pile.

Augercast piles cause minimal disturbance, and are often used for noise and
environmentally sensitive sites. Augercast piles are not generally suited for use
in contaminated soils, due to expensive waste disposal costs. In cases such as
these however a displacement pile may provide the cost efficiency of an augercast
pile and minimal environmental impact. In ground containing obstructions or cobbles
and boulders, augercast piles are less suitable as refusal above the design pile
tip elevation may be encountered. In certain cases drill motors that produce more
torque and horsepower may be able to mitigate these events.[citation needed]

Pier and grade beam foundation

In drilled pier foundations, the piers can be connected with grade beams on which
the structure sits, sometimes with heavy column loads bearing directly on the
piers. In some residential construction, the piers are extended above the ground
level and wood beams bearing on the piers are used to support the structure. This
type of foundation results in a crawl space underneath the building in which wiring
and duct work can be laid during construction or re-modelling.[8]

Specialty piles
Micropiles
Micropiles, also called mini piles, are often used for underpinning. They are also
used to create foundations for a variety of project types, including highway,
bridge and transmission tower projects. They are especially useful at sites with
difficult or restricted access, or with environmental sensitivity.[9][10]
Micropiles are made of steel with diameters of 60 to 200 mm. Installation of
micropiles through top soil, sand and cobblestones overburden and into soil rock
can be achieved using Air Rotary or Mud Rotary drilling, impact driving, jacking,
vibrating or screwing machinery.[11] Micropiles can also be used to construct a
grout column around the shaft of a standard Helical Pile system, allowing for use
in higher load applications.[12]

Tripod piles
The use of a tripod rig to install piles is one of the more traditional ways of
forming piles. Although unit costs are generally higher than with most other forms
of piling,[citation needed] it has several advantages which have ensured its
continued use through to the present day. The tripod system is easy and inexpensive
to bring to site, making it ideal for jobs with a small number of piles.

Sheet piles

Sheet piles are used to restrain soft soil above the bedrock in this excavation
Sheet piling is a form of driven piling using thin interlocking sheets of steel to
obtain a continuous barrier in the ground. The main application of sheet piles is
in retaining walls and cofferdams erected to enable permanent works to proceed.
Normally, vibrating hammer, t-crane and crawle drilling are used to establish sheet
piles.[citation needed]

Soldier piles

A soldier pile wall using reclaimed railway sleepers as lagging.

Soldier piles, also known as king piles or Berlin walls, are constructed of wide
flange steel H sections spaced about 2 to 3 m apart and are driven prior to
excavation. As the excavation proceeds, horizontal timber sheeting (lagging) is
inserted behind the H pile flanges.

The horizontal earth pressures are concentrated on the soldier piles because of
their relative rigidity compared to the lagging. Soil movement and subsidence is
minimized by maintaining the lagging in firm contact with the soil.[citation
needed]

Soldier piles are most suitable in conditions where well constructed walls will not
result in subsidence such as over-consolidated clays, soils above the water table
if they have some cohesion, and free draining soils which can be effectively
dewatered, like sands.[citation needed]

Unsuitable soils include soft clays and weak running soils that allow large
movements such as loose sands. It is also not possible to extend the wall beyond
the bottom of the excavation and dewatering is often required.[citation needed]

Screw piles
Screw piles, also called helical piers and screw foundations, have been used as
foundations since the mid 19th century in screw-pile lighthouses.[13] Screw piles
are galvanized iron pipe with helical fins that are turned into the ground by
machines to the required depth. The screw distributes the load to the soil and is
sized accordingly.

Suction Piles
Suction piles are used underwater to secure floating platforms. Tubular piles are
driven into the seabed (or more commonly dropped a few metres into a soft seabed)
and then a pump sucks water out at the top of the tubular, pulling the pile further
down.

The proportions of the pile (diameter to height) are dependent upon the soil type.
Sand is difficult to penetrate but provides good holding capacity, so the height
may be as short as half the diameter. Clays and muds are easy to penetrate but
provide poor holding capacity, so the height may be as much as eight times the
diameter. The open nature of gravel means that water would flow through the ground
during installation, causing 'piping' flow (where water boils up through weaker
paths through the soil). Therefore, suction piles cannot be used in gravel seabeds.
[citation needed]

Adfreeze Piles

Adfreeze Piles supporting a building in Barrow, Alaska, United States

In high latitudes where the ground is continuously frozen, adfreeze piles are used
as the primary structural foundation method.

Adfreeze piles derive their strength from the bond of the frozen ground around them
to the surface of the pile.[citation needed]

Adfreeze pile foundations are particularly sensitive in conditions which cause the
permafrost to melt. If a building is constructed improperly, it will heat the
ground below resulting in a failure of the foundation system.[citation needed]

Vibrated stone columns

Vibrated stone columns are a ground improvement technique where columns of coarse
aggregate ("stone") are placed in soils with poor drainage or bearing capacity to
improve the soils.[14]

Hospital Piles or Gallow Piles

Specific to marine structures, hospital piles are built to provide temporary
support to marine structure components during refurbishment works. For example,
when removing a river pontoon, the brow will be attached to hospital pile to
support it. They are normal piles, usually with a chain or hook attachment. Also
known as Gallow piles.

Piled walls

Sheet piling, by a bridge, was used to block a canal in New Orleans, United States
after Hurricane Katrina damaged it.
These methods of retaining wall construction employ bored piling techniques,
normally CFA or rotary. They provide special advantages where available working
space dictates that basement excavation faces be vertical. Both methods offer
technically effective and offer a cost efficient temporary or permanent means of
retaining the sides of bulk excavations even in water bearing strata. When used in
permanent works, these walls can be designed to accommodate vertical loads in
addition to moments and horizontal forces. Construction of both methods is the same
as for foundation bearing piles. Contiguous walls are constructed with small gaps
between adjacent piles. The size of this space is determined by the strength of the
soils.

Secant piled walls

Secant pile walls are constructed such that space is left between alternate
'female' piles for the subsequent construction of 'male' piles. Construction of
'male' piles involves boring through the concrete in the 'female' piles hole in
order to key 'male' piles between. The male pile is the one where steel
reinforcement cages are installed, though in some cases the female piles are also
reinforced.

Secant piled walls can either be true hard/hard, hard/intermediate (firm), or

hard/soft, depending on design requirements. Hard refers to structural concrete and
firm or soft is usually a weaker grout mix containing bentonite.

All types of wall can be constructed as free standing cantilevers, or may be

propped if space and sub-structure design permit. Where party wall agreements
allow, ground anchors can be used as tie backs.

Slurry walls
A slurry wall is a barrier built under ground using a mix of bentonite and water to
prevent the flow of groundwater. A trench that would collapse due to the hydraulic
pressure in the surrounding soil does not collapse as the slurry balances the
hydraulic pressure.

Deep mixing/mass stabilization techniques

These are essentially variations of in situ reinforcements in the form of piles (as
mentioned above), blocks or larger volumes.

Cement, lime/quick lime, flyash, sludge and/or other binders (sometimes called
stabilizer) are mixed into the soil to increase bearing capacity. The result is not
as solid as concrete, but should be seen as an improvement of the bearing capacity
of the original soil.

The technique is most often applied on clays or organic soils like peat. The mixing
can be carried out by pumping the binder into the soil whilst mixing it with a
device normally mounted on an excavator or by excavating the masses, mixing them
separately with the binders and refilling them in the desired area. The technique
can also be used on lightly contaminated masses as a means of binding contaminants,
as opposed to excavating them and transporting to landfill or processing.

Classification of pile with respect to type of material

Timber
Main article: Timber pilings
As the name implies, timber piles are made of wood.

Historically, timber has been a plentiful, locally available resource in many

areas. Today, timber piles are still more affordable than concrete or steel.
Compared to other types of piles (steel or concrete), and depending on the
source/type of timber, timber piles may not be suitable for heavier loads.

A main consideration regarding timber piles is that they should be protected from
rotting above groundwater level. Timber will last for a long time below the
groundwater level. For timber to rot, two elements are needed: water and oxygen.
Below the groundwater level, dissolved oxygen is lacking even though there is ample
water. Hence, timber tends to last for a long time below groundwater level. In
1648, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam was constructed on 13659 timber piles that
still survive today since they were below groundwater level. Timber that is to be
used above the water table can be protected from decay and insects by numerous
forms of wood preservation using pressure treatment (alkaline copper quaternary
(ACQ), chromated copper arsenate (CCA), creosote, etc.).

Splicing timber piles is still quite common and is the easiest of all the piling
materials to splice. The normal method for splicing is by driving the leader pile
first, driving a steel tube (normally 60�100 cm long, with an internal diameter no
smaller than the minimum toe diameter) half its length onto the end of the leader
pile. The follower pile is then simply slotted into the other end of the tube and
driving continues. The steel tube is simply there to ensure that the two pieces
follow each other during driving. If uplift capacity is required, the splice can
incorporate bolts, coach screws, spikes or the like to give it the necessary
capacity.

Iron
Iron may be used for piling. These may be ductile.[15]

Steel

Cutaway illustration. Deep inclined (battered) pipe piles support a precast

segmented skyway where upper soil layers are weak muds.
Pipe piles are a type of steel driven pile foundation and are a good candidate for
inclined (battered) piles.

Pipe piles can be driven either open end or closed end. When driven open end, soil
is allowed to enter the bottom of the pipe or tube. If an empty pipe is required, a
jet of water or an auger can be used to remove the soil inside following driving.
Closed end pipe piles are constructed by covering the bottom of the pile with a
steel plate or cast steel shoe.

In some cases, pipe piles are filled with concrete to provide additional moment
capacity or corrosion resistance. In the United Kingdom, this is generally not done
in order to reduce the cost. In these cases corrosion protection is provided by
allowing for a sacrificial thickness of steel or by adopting a higher grade of
steel. If a concrete filled pipe pile is corroded, most of the load carrying
capacity of the pile will remain intact due to the concrete, while it will be lost
in an empty pipe pile.

The structural capacity of pipe piles is primarily calculated based on steel

strength and concrete strength (if filled). An allowance is made for corrosion
depending on the site conditions and local building codes.

Steel pipe piles can either be new steel manufactured specifically for the piling
industry or reclaimed steel tubular casing previously used for other purposes such
as oil and gas exploration.

H-Piles are structural beams that are driven in the ground for deep foundation
application. They can be easily cut off or joined by welding or mechanical drive-
fit splicers. If the pile is driven into a soil with low pH value, then there is a
risk of corrosion, coal-tar epoxy or cathodic protection can be applied to slow or
eliminate the corrosion process. It is common to allow for an amount of corrosion
in design by simply over dimensioning the cross-sectional area of the steel pile.
In this way, the corrosion process can be prolonged up to 50 years.
Prestressed concrete piles
Concrete piles are typically made with steel reinforcing and prestressing tendons
to obtain the tensile strength required, to survive handling and driving, and to
provide sufficient bending resistance.

Long piles can be difficult to handle and transport. Pile joints can be used to
join two or more short piles to form one long pile. Pile joints can be used with
both precast and prestressed concrete piles.

Composite piles
A "composite pile" is a pile made of steel and concrete members that are fastened
together, end to end, to form a single pile. It is a combination of different
materials or different shaped materials such as pipe and H-beams or steel and
concrete.

Aquatic pilings/Marine pilings

'Pile jackets' encasing old concrete piles in a saltwater environment to prevent

corrosion and consequential weakening of the piles when cracks allow saltwater to
contact the internal steel reinforcement rods
Wood (and other) pilings are used for supports in structures raised above water,
for docks, piers, jettys, bridges, oil platforms, and lighthouses. These must be
treated specially to avoid corrosion.[16]

See also
Eurocode EN 1997
International Society for Micropiles
Post in ground construction also called earthfast or posthole construction; a
historic method of building wooden structures.
Stilt house, also known as a lake house; an ancient, historic house type built on
pilings.
Shallow foundations
Pile bridge